What's New

Gold Line DEIS Now Available Online

After two years of screening, analysis, and public and agency participation, the RTD Gold Line Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) is now available for public review. Public hearings were on August 6th and 7th to gather comments on the DEIS, which contains the comprehensive environmental analysis and proposed mitigation measures for the FasTracks rail line. The release of the DEIS marks one of the most significant milestones to date in making the Gold Line a reality. Please visit the new DEIS section of our webiste for more information on this important document.

View the New Gold Line Video
Click here to view this new informational video on the Gold Line.

Potential Preferred Alternative Refinements Recommended

The RTD FasTracks Gold Line team today recommended the potential refinements to the Preferred Alternative to be evaluated in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

In addition to evaluating the Preferred Alternative -- electric commuter rail on the BNSF/Union Pacific Railroad alignment -- the Gold Line Team recommended evaluating in the DEIS a potential alignment immediately east of the railroad property from Pecos Street to Denver Union Station.

As part of RTD's system-wide negotiations with the Union Pacific Railroad (UP), the railroad presented a package of properties that proved to be unaffordable. The package included portions of land included in the proposed Gold Line Preferred Alternative alignment.

Evaluating the potential refinements now will keep the Gold Line environmental study moving forward while RTD continues property-acquisition negotiations with the railroads.

The team has identified four potential refinements to the Gold Line between Denver Union Station and Pecos St. that would not require railroad right-of-way acquisition and would not affect railroad operations. After a preliminary evaluation of the four options, the team is recommending one option, on the east side of the railroad tracks, be evaluated in the DEIS.

The Gold Line team will gather public comment on its recommended refinement option and the three options it identified but does not recommend pursuing at public workshops scheduled for Tuesday, March 4 at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada and Thursday March 6 at the Highlands Masonic Center, 3550 Federal Blvd., Denver. Both meetings are scheduled from 6-8 p.m.

The Gold Line team will evaluate the refinement option in the DEIS using the same criteria that led to the selection of the Preferred Alternative last summer. Among the categories to be analyzed will be potential property acquisitions, cost, engineering, community and environmental effects.

All stations identified in the Gold Line Preferred Alternative will be included in the refinement option. The refinement option may allow for the evaluation of additional park-n-Ride options at the proposed 38th Avenue Station. The park-n-Ride options identified in the Preferred Alternative for all other stations remain the same.

Following the public workshops, the Gold Line team will form Issue Focused Teams to partner with them on specific issues in the refinement process. Information on these Issue Focused Teams and instructions on how to register will be shared once the number of teams and issues to be addressed are determined.

The Gold Line EIS team is expecting to release the DEIS, including the potential refinements of the Preferred Alternative, this summer or fall and the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) to be completed in early 2009. Additional public meetings to discuss these and other project milestones will be scheduled as the Gold Line team continues its evaluation effort.

To view an archive of all previously posted "What's New" web updates, please click here.